Michael McDowell's glass slipper broke late in Wurth 400 at Texas

For a brief moment, it appeared that Michael McDowell and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team were going to find themselves standing in victory lane following Sunday's Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. 

A two-tire call by crew chief Travis Peterson on Lap 222 put McDowell in second for the Lap 226 restart, and while McDowell couldn't wrestle the lead away from Kyle Larson, he had put himself in the mix for the race win.

After two more yellow flags ensued, a poor restart from Larson on Lap 245 handed the race lead to McDowell, who promptly gapped Ryan Blaney by three-quarters of a second. 

After yet another caution, McDowell outdueled Blaney on the Lap 253 restart, and was barely ahead of the No. 12 when Tyler Reddick brought out the caution on Lap 254. 

With just 10 laps to go when the field took the green flag on Lap 258, it was once again McDowell vs. Blaney on the restart. Like he had on the previous restart, McDowell fought off the 2023 champion, extending his lead as Blaney gave way to Joey Logano for second. 

Unlike Blaney, however, Logano was able to close on McDowell quickly, putting all the pressure on McDowell and his very worn left-side tires. With four laps to go, Logano made his move, going to the inside of McDowell on the backstretch. Despite an aggressive block by McDowell, Logano cleared the No. 71 and drove away. 

With the lead having been ripped from his grasp, McDowell turned his attention to fending off Blaney for second. Unlike on the previous restarts, Blaney had enough to get around McDowell on the exit of Turn 2 with three laps to go. Unfortunately, this is where McDowell's Cinderella story ends. 

After briefly crossing through the wake of Blaney, the dirty air on the front of McDowell's Chevy snapped the No. 71 loose, sending McDowell hard into the wall and ending his day.